What Hath God Wrought? (Today in History: May 24, 1844)

Library of Congress ^ | Today

[Ezekiel]

What Hath God Wrought?

On May 24, 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse dispatched the first telegraphic message over an experimental line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. The message, taken from the Bible, Numbers 23:23 and recorded on a paper tape, had been suggested to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the young daughter of a friend.

[Ezekiel]

May 24, 1844 was 6 Sivan, 5604 -- Shavuot, the day of the Giving of the Law.

To include some context:

Numbers 23 (KJV)

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
25 And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all.
26 But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?

***

1. Shavout is the traditional date for the birth and passing of King David.
2. This text is found in Parshat Balak, the location of the Messianic "star prophecy", part of the section whose near-far fulfillments have been interpreted as a pattern of two Messiahs or two Davids: the first Messiah being King David, and the second the Messiah son of David.

Which brings me to another point of connection between Shavuot and Parshat Balak (the prophecies involving the two Davids)...

Shavuot is the wheat harvest. It was in the days of the wheat harvest that Rachel devised a plan to negotiate some "mandrakes" from Leah.

Translations use the word "mandrakes", and there are various theories for the identity of these mandrakes and also for what Rachel intended.

Genesis 30:14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

The Hebrew word is "dudaim" [דודאים], which is a dual plural and thus a word play on "two Davids."

[Ezekiel]

The puns go on because as you wood know, a male (man) duck *is* a drake, and the two in the genus Aix are dressed up for a wedding.

Furthermore, as far as the most handsome man-drakes are concerned,

Aix is a bird genus that contains two species of ducks: the wood duck (Aix sponsa), and the Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata). Aix is an Ancient Greek word used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aix_(bird)

In both species, weddings are involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_duck#In_culture

There's even a link to "wedding ducks". And then there's this:

Probably the most colorful duck in North America is the wood duck. Its scientific name, Aix sponsa, is made up of the Greek word Aix, meaning waterbird, and the Latin word sponsa, which means bride or betrothed. Together it translates roughly as "water bird in wedding dress" which is a reference to its marvelous plumage. The common name "wood duck" refers to its preferred habitat of wooded marsh land.

http://ecobirder.blogspot.com/2011/01/here-comes-wood-bride.html

The point is that Shavuot (the day the message was telegraphed - written from a distance - about what God did), is also a wedding day:

According to Jewish tradition, a very special wedding takes place on Shavuot: the symbolic union between God, the bridegroom, and the People of Israel, the bride.

https://stories.thejewishmuseum.org/shavuot-revelation-at-mount-sinai-a-mystical-wedding-greenery-and-cheesecake-1620a8e63ec6

The wood duck’s beauty is reflected in its scientific name, Aix sponsa. From the greek word "aiks” for water bird and latin word "sponsa” for betrothed, the name refers to plumage so striking that the wood duck looks like it is dressed for a wedding.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/wapanocca/wood_ducks/

You going to argue with the dapper mandraix and their brides, all dressed to the nines?

The Torah wedding happened on Sinai, which is spelled the same as the Hebrew word for Chinese (the adj. "sini").

If you check out the Hebrew wiki page for the Mandarin ducks, the first line explains that these "aix" are "mandarin sini",

You see that? How many word plays? They are the mandraix in Sinai, all dressed up for a wedding. On Shavuot.

It goes on, as the wooden wedding ducks are two pieces of wood carved as a matching "Sinai" couple.

Wood. Ezekiel was instructed in how to join the two together as one.

Gen 30.15. And she said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? and would you take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with you to night for your son's mandrakes:

***

Funny how it's been raining wood ducks. :)

[Hebrews 11:6]

Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, a British pastor/theologian/evangelist, gave a guest sermon c.1980 in Santa Barbara with these memorable main points:

What Hath God Wrought?

What Hath God Taught?

What Hath God Brought?

[Ezekiel]

Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, a British pastor/theologian/evangelist, gave a guest sermon c.1980 in Santa Barbara with these memorable main points:

What Hath God Wrought? What Hath God Taught? What Hath God Brought?

Hah. And what hath God bought?

Luke 13

21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three Measures Of Meal, till the whole was leavened.
22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

;)

[Daffynition]

Or ask any of my former students in the *hood*...

**Why you Aix me all dese questions miss. I gots other tings to worry ‘bout** **Yo**

[Varsity Flight]

10 years later Jefferson Davis addresses the graduates of West Point including Jeb Stuart, George Custer, Picket among others.
At the siege by John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, a key plan was to cut the telegraph lines.

Brown, unsuccessful was betrayed by an informant.

[Ezekiel]

Or ask any of my former students in the *hood*...

Why you Aix?

Scholars all!!

>>>The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix.

'Aix' is an Ancient Greek word which was used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and 'galericulata' is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet.<<<

Noun

galērum n (genitive galērī); second declension

a helmet made of skins
bonnet, cap

As you can see, those mandarin mandraix were the first in the hood!

Definitely the King of Bling: